Anniversaries and commemorations come and go daily. Most of us, even the best historians, miss most occasions. If we think of history as events then we are faced with a continually showering in the grains of sand. Nevertheless, we do pick out certain patterns in the remembrance of historical dates. The blog here reminds us of some dates where the local, state, national, and global perspectives entwine.
What Time is It? It is flow of a sandstorm that will on each day compress somewhere into a structure – sandstone, selected and only remembered in the longue durée.
On 7 April 1845, An earthquake destroys part of Mexico City, along with the nearby towns of Tlalpan and Xochimilco.
On 7 April 1895, Nansen’s Fram expedition to the Arctic reaches 86°13.6’N, almost 3° beyond the previous Farthest North attained.
On Saturday, 7 April 1945, WWII: The only flight of the German ramming unit known as the Sonderkommando Elbe takes place, resulting in the loss of some 24 B-17s and B-24s of the United States Eighth Air Force.
On Saturday, 7 April 1945, The Japanese battleship Yamato is sunk 200 miles (320 km) north of Okinawa while underway on a suicide mission.
On Saturday, 7 April 1945, Kantarō Suzuki becomes Prime Minister of Japan.
On Monday, 7 April 1980, The United States severs diplomatic relations with Iran and imposes economic sanctions, following the taking of American hostages on November 4, 1979.
On Saturday, 7 April 1990, Iran–Contra affair: John Poindexter is found guilty of 5 charges for his part in the scandal; the convictions are later reversed on appeal.
On Saturday, 7 April 1990, Scandinavian Star, a Bahamas-registered ferry, catches fire en route from Norway to Denmark, leaving 158 dead.
On Friday, 7 April 1995, First Chechen War 1995. Samashki massacre: Russian paramilitary troops begin a massacre of at least 250 civilians in Samashki, Chechnya.
On Wednesday, 7 April 2010, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev flees the country amid fierce anti-government riots in the capital, Bishkek.
On Tuesday, 7 April 2015, The Federal Court upholds a ‘discovery application’ by rights-holders of the film Dallas Buyers Club to obtain the contact details of ISP customers whose IP addresses were alleged to have downloaded or shared the film.
Images Citations in Composite: ID 17208541 © Anhong | Dreamstime.com; ID 35001957 © DiversityStudio1 | Dreamstime.com; ID 156394527 © Gerd Zahn | Dreamstime.com
Neville Buch
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